Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has reportedly made sure he has carried out his role as leader off the pitch in recent weeks by getting to the bottom of the team's 'lack of spark' in order to fix the problems that have plagued Los Blancos this winter.

Image by Jamie Spencer

Prior to a 7-1 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend, Real had gone three La Liga games without a win. Following that huge victory, they have since been knocked out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter final stage by top flight minnows Leganes.

According to a report from Marca, published prior to the Leganes game on Wednesday night, club president Florentino Perez tasked Ramos with 'leading an inquest' to help fix the issues.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one player in particular who has been performing well below par in 2017/18, failing to find the net at anything like his usual prolific rate.

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Ronaldo is said to have been one of three guests that Ramos invited for dinner. Luka Modric and Marcelo also joined and the skipper is believed to have relayed messages of 'respect and gratitude' from the Bernabeu hierarchy, particularly where Ronaldo was concerned.

In the very next game against Deportivo, Marcelo's performance seemed to improve, while Ronaldo netted a brace to take his La Liga tally for the season from four goals to six.

The 2-1 defeat at the hands of Leganes this week, which saw the Madrid-based club defeat their illustrious neighbours on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate score-line, was arguably an anomaly as Ronaldo, Marcelo and Modric were all rested by Zinedine Zidane.

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The real indicator of Ramos' success will be how Real perform in a huge game against Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday afternoon. Valencia are five points better off in the table and anything other than a win would leave Real vulnerable to dropping out of the top four.